Kennedy Drawer Glides Interchangable?

[LG63]

Bought a Kennedy 520 over the weekend and have started cleaning it up. If I pay myself min wage per hour I probably would have been ahead to buy new but I'm in too deep at this point and new wouldn't have the 50 year old patina. I found the original receipt under the door which was kind of cool. It was purchased in 1964 thru payroll deduction at a cost $23.50 plus $1.52 tax. And naturally it was a "carbon copy" of the receipt.

Anyway, I'm about to remove the drawer glides and wondered if there's any reason to keep them matched to each respective drawer? There doesn't appear to be much of a wear pattern and they look symmetrical front to back so I was going to just pull them all and throw them in solvent.

 

[Outlawmws]

Yep although I will often look at the wear marks and reverse them to maximize their lifespan.

 

[zkling]

X2 what Outlaw said.

My OCD would tell me to keep them on the same drawer, just flip them around.

I have cleaned quite a few slides over the years (all my boxes are used, well used) including 2 kennedy 520's. Just remove the slides, check for damages, straighten if necessary, clean. If wear patterns are present just switch the sides so the bearing surfaces are "fresh". If any slides are well damaged, I put them on the smaller drawers, if replacements cannot be found.

Those 520's are really solid little boxes. I doubt if someone could wear one out. Only thing I didn't like, which caused me to sell was those tiny drawer pulls. I don't even have large hands and they were still a pain.

 

[Packard V8]

Yes, the drawer slides are interchangeable.

No, you'd never wear one out. I've got five of them, all used when I bought them, and haven't noticed any change in their condition in forty years.

jack vines